Archive for the ‘On Franchising’ Category

New franchises – especially those offering new and in-trend concepts – are always interesting and will likely to attract fans and enthusiasts into franchisees.

New franchises play an important role in franchising: New franchises breathe fresh air to the franchising world, adding value to the wealth of opportunities in franchising worldwide.

Full of potential, new franchises will likely to attract adventurous franchisee candidates to invest in a franchise unit and join the band wagon of ‘the next big thing’ – Some of the new franchises do become the next big thing, indeed.

However, anything that bears the word ‘new’ in the description will always present …

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You have done your due diligence well – You have searched and evaluated dozens of franchise opportunities you are interested in, and you have finally picked the one suit you best. And your hard work proves right – Your franchise unit is profitable and growing well.

The idea of multi-unit franchise ownership – owning more than one franchise units of the same franchise company – is suddenly pop out of your head.

On paper, the idea looks good: If you own a franchise unit, owning two of the same franchise is double the fun, right? Maybe. Maybe not.

The opportunities of multi-unit franchising

Being in …

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I have just read an article from The New York Times that covers the questions you should ask to yourself and a franchisor before deciding on buying the franchise of your dream.

The article opens up some facts that, to tell you the truth, somewhat against franchising, in a sense that you should take great(er) care to invest your money in a franchise opportunities, as many facts and pitches made by the franchise companies are misleading to the ‘untrained eyes.’

I enjoy reading and benefit greatly from the article and would like to share the 9 questions to ask with you.

9 questions you should …

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Buying a franchise is not buying an established business. The fact is this: buying a franchise is ‘renting’ a proven system and established brand image – You can never, ever own the system and brand name (unless you own the franchise company.)

Apart from the system and branding, the new franchise unit itself is, in fact, a business startup.

Surprisingly, many franchisee candidates believe that buying a franchise is buying an established business that guarantees them a certain amount of income and a certain Return-on-Investment (ROI.)

First of all, nobody can guarantee you any results. Financial claims are based on averages, projections and/or estimates …

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This question (supposedly) jump out of a franchisee candidate’s mind: How much can I make from this franchise opportunity?

Unfortunately, the answers can be vague, misleading and, in a sense, secretive. The income reports you saw publicly (such as in franchise expos) are either averages or forecasts/projections.

Franchise companies are not in the habit of telling prospective franchisees how much their franchisees are making annually. Even if they do, I’m sure the answer would be in the form of averages, with different methods of calculating averages from one franchise to another.

Unfortunately, averages are misleading and, due to that, I don’t really like anything based …

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Franchising has been booming in the past decades, worldwide. No longer in the US, the rest of the world’s entrepreneurs have realised that franchising offers enormous potential.

Franchise Direct has ranked the world’s best franchises for 2009.

It is interesting to learn that from the top 100 list only 15 of them are non-US franchise companies – The US, indeed, still hold the status quo as the origin of some of the best franchises and brand names in the world.

Without further ado, here is the list:

Top 100 Global Franchises for 2009

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We are always ‘reminded’ by various publications on franchising, online and off line, that franchising is expensive, and bailing out from the franchise agreement is costly for the franchisee.

Unfortunately, not many realise that not only franchisees, franchisors are also financially affected by the franchisee-franchisor partnership break-up – And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Break-up costs to the franchisee

It is obvious that the franchisee will be severely hit by huge monetary loss due to ‘the-usuals’ in the franchise agreement – The non-competing agreement and the right for the franchisor to terminate the franchise agreement almost at will.

The non-competing agreement …

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Franchise ownership is one route to entrepreneurship and financial independence, provided you buy a franchise with the right knowledge and mindset.

Unfortunately, for the sake of seeking new franchisees, some franchise opportunity offers are simply misleading, even degrading.

Here is what I found searching on Indeed for the term “franchise opportunities jobs“:…

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I have invested in franchise opportunities and business opportunities, and I concluded that there is one major difference among those two: The level of support.

For those of you who think that franchise fees and royalties are simply useless and waste of money, think again – You will receive what you have paid for.

Many, if not most, business opportunities are using “no franchise fee” and “no royalty” as selling points. The downside that not many business opportunities reveal is their level of support.

Despite some business opportunities offer ongoing training to investors, not many think the partnership as more than supplier-buyer relationship: You …

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I just read an article posted by Joel Libava (The Franchise King) about not including buying a franchise as a backup plan after someone is being downsized.

Unfortunately, I do heard stories of people who put buying a franchise in the top list of what-to-do-after-you-are-being-downsized – I agree with Joel: Franchising is not for everybody. How people are being misled? The culprit is the widespread belief that buying a franchise gives you a huge opportunity to succeed – The coveted 95% success rate.

In another article, Mr. Libava indicates that the 95% success rate of franchise ownership is a myth (and an …

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